New e-mail system not yet implemented

MU has been testing Microsoft's new Live Mail system since July.

By Carolina Astrain

Published Jan. 19, 2007

After months of testing Microsoft's newest e-mail system called Live Mail, MU has made no move to implement it to the general student population.

Live Mail would have replaced the university's Microsoft Webmail system, but feedback from test users has been less than enthusiastic.

Live Mail is an e-mail system that provides users with two gigabytes of memory.

It does not expire so MU graduates would still be able to use their university e-mail accounts.

Potential drawbacks include the fact that Live Mail is not compatible with either Microsoft Outlook or Entourage and disables the use of calendar messaging in these programs.

MU has been testing the Live Mail system on students, both current and graduated, since July.

"The main feedback coming from test users is the need for a global address catalog," said Terry Robb, Information and Access Technology Services spokesman. "Slightly less than 75 percent of the test users have responded to using Live Mail."

In response to the lack of a directory on the program, IATS developed a Web-based application that will be deployed onto the Windows Live Web site.

This catalog will only be available on the Web site and is inaccessible through the Live Mail server.

The University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Illinois College of Business are among some of the universities that use Windows Live Mail.

Converting to Live Mail from Webmail would require a new password only for Live Mail.

As for other IATS upgrades, Robb said he does not plan to equip IATS computer labs with Windows Vista, Microsoft's newest operating system to be released next month, until this summer.